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Nanaimo-area First Nation outraged over damage to ancient rock carvings

White track marks are visible on top of an ancient and well-documented petroglyph site after crews hired by B.C. Hydro parked heavy track machinery on the fragile sandstone carvings while replacing a Hydro pole on Snuneymuxw First Nation territory.

The chief of a Nanaimo-area First Nation says his community is livid at the discovery that crews hired by BC Hydro damaged an ancient and well-documented petroglyph site while working in the band’s territory last month.

Chief Douglas White of the Snuneymuxw First Nation said the surface of the petroglyphs in an area known as Cedar-by-the-Sea was crushed and scraped when a crew working for the Crown corporation parked heavy track machinery on top of the sandstone carvings while replacing a hydro pole.

White said he is mystified at how the damage could have occurred because Hydro has been aware of the spiritual and historical significance of the site since the 1960s, when it first damaged the ancient artwork during installation of the hydro pole.

“These are very sacred sites to our people, of course. They’re an important connection between us and our territory and our spirituality and cosmology,” he said.

“So something (is) desperately broken and my people are extremely upset about it.”

The petroglyphs have also been registered with the province’s archeology branch since the 1970s.

Hydro is supposed to inform the band of any work happening near petroglyph sites but failed to do so in this case, White said.

He said the damage occurred on April 10 but the band was only alerted to it last week when BC Hydro sent an archaeologist to investigate.

BC Hydro is investigating why the contractor was not informed the area contained petroglyphs despite “clear policies and procedures in place that must be followed near heritage resources,” Lyle Viereck, the corporation’s director of aboriginal relations, said in a statement.

He said Hydro learned of the incident late last week and quickly reached out to the Snuneymuxw and Chemainus First Nations and asked to meet with members to determine if the site was damaged.

“Once we determined that there was damage to the surface of the petroglyph, we also notified the provincial archeology branch,” the statement said. Viereck also said Hydro takes “incidents of this sort very seriously.”

But White said he was disappointed by a meeting with Viereck and a BC Hydro vice-president Sunday to assess the damage. The situation is a clear indication that Hydro needs to improve its relationship and communications with First Nations, White said, but his invitation to sit down with Hydro “and do a hard look at what went wrong” was denied.

In the three years he’s been chief of the band, White said, there have been “serious issues” between the two parties and until Hydro agrees to revamp its approach to working on Snuneymuxw land, its crews will not be welcome.

“As of right now I’ve got a really clear mandate from my people that we don’t want to see Hydro working on our territory if this is the kind of stuff that’s going to be happening,” he said.

The Snuneymuxw lands have many petroglyph sites portraying spiritual journeys of individuals as well as myths and rituals related to the band’s history. Many of the sites have been studied and written about by notable B.C. archaeologist Beth Hill, who documented them in the 1970s.

White track marks are visible on top of an ancient and well-documented petroglyph site after crews hired by B.C. Hydro parked heavy track machinery on the fragile sandstone carvings while replacing a Hydro pole on Snuneymuxw First Nation territory.